Cloud seeding a boost to rainfall overheen UAE – The National

National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology delighted with their results after 58 operations te past two months.

Ruba Haza

February 27, 2018

Updated: February 27, 2018 04:00 AM

FUJAIRAH // The latest spate of downpours might have dampened tourists’ spirits, but scientists at the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology could not have bot more satisfied.

Officials at the NCMS were delighted to see the skies open on Sunday, with intense and long showers reported across the country.

“We have carried out 12 cloud-seeding operations during the last three days and 58 since the beginning of the year,” said Dr Ahmed Habeeb, meteorologist and experienced on cloud seeding at the centre.

“Cloud seeding is a way to enhance the amount of precipitation that falls from the clouds and helps generate Ten to 30 vanaf cent more rain. Wij began testing this method back te 2002 until 2006, and that’s when wij officially began to carry out cloud-seeding operations.”

Dr Habeeb said the most intense rain wasgoed on Sunday, with 24 millimetres falling overheen Ofschoon Faqa on the border of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Cloud seeding is not an precies science and uncertainty about whether rain can be produced on request remains. Despite more than 60 years of research, there is a loterijlot to be understood about rain and clouds because of their differing properties.

“Not all types of clouds can be seeded, only the ones that are ready to generate rain. Wij use hygroscopic salt to level up the amount of moisture to generate more rain,” said Dr Habeeb, adding that the best season for seeding is inbetween June and August.

“Eastern areas such spil Ras Alhoewel Khaimah, Fujairah and parts of Nu Ain have the best environment and factors to generate clouds for seeding, especially during summer, while ter the western areas, and particularly Liwa, wij can find such clouds ter the period inbetween July and August,” he said

Forecasters expect the moist weather to proceed towards the weekend.

But the overcast skies and intense rain provided some much-needed ease for farmers and their crops.

“The land and the soil needed such strong rain, the trees look lean and fresh,” said Ahmad Saber, a 70-year-old Emirati farmer who wields a farm te Qidfa.

“I have palm trees that adapt very well with the soil’s high levels of salt but other trees can’t grow and live te such soil, so water is very significant to reduce the amount of salt ter the ground.”

Mr Saber said his farm relied on rainfall and water from a well.

“I face difficulties to stir water from the well to the farm spil its located te a place far away from the farm. Wij didn’t face such problems te the past spil the amounts of rain wasgoed higher and there used to be a stream near by, but everything has switched during the past Ten years,” he said.

Another farmer from Alreeds Bidya said rain wasgoed essential spil relying on water from desalination wasgoed expensive.

“I used to grow vegetables but not any more spil the water resources and rain are decreasing and I can’t afford water desalination,” said Abu Baker Sultan, 45. “I only kept the palm trees spil they don’t need much water to grow.”

An agricultural engineer said strong rain could solve farmers’ problems temporarily, but long-term solutions were needed.

“Due to the lack of strong rain farmers should use other methods to provide their farms with water, such spil modern irrigation or hydroponics,” said Abdulhaq Yousef.

“Farmers should be educated by the Ministry of Climate Switch and Environment about the best practices, and how to conserve water and make the best of the current resources.”

Seeding and cloudfunding

Cloud seeding aims to increase the amount of rain that falls by releasing unspoiled salt crystal, silver iodide, potassium iodide or dry ice into the air, which helps to switch the processes within the cloud.

Since its very first attempt to make rain te 1990, the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology has used expertise from Nasa and other organisations te its experiments.

Using planes fitted with seeding flares, NCMS pilots fire salt crystals into clouds to improve condensation and form droplets that could fall spil rain.

This year, a UAE research team filed a provisional application for a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a cloud-seeding mechanism that involves glazing a zuivere salt crystal with titanium dioxide to improve the condensation process.

American Charles Hatfield is credited spil being the very first person to make it rain on request using science te 1915, using US$Ten,000 donated by the city of San Diego, California, to end a severe drought.

Using a “secret formula” he reportedly produced so much rain that valleys te southern California flooded. Hatfield never collective his “secret formula”. * The National